Toy motion-picture device



Oct. 23, 1928.

L. A. KING TOY MOTION PICTURE DEVICE Filed May 29, 1926 Patented You. 33,1928.

UNITED STATES.

PAT-ENT- ,QFEICE.

mum a. me, or more.

TOY IOT'IOH-PIQIUBE 123w.

Appncafionfled lay a, 1m. 'Ieriai n. naive.

These improvements relate to motion .pilcture toys of the kind in which there is a rotatable member provided with pictures, with means providing a sight opening through which the operatorviews the pictures. Itfis old to provide a motion picture device ofsuch general character and in which the pictures are viewed by reflection from a mirror, as witness my Patents No. 1,526,794 of February 17,1925, and No. 1,563,090 of November-24:,- 1925.

The present improvements objects of these improvements is to provide a toy of this character which is complete with out a mirror, thus reducing the number of parts or elements involved, reducing the cost of manufacture, providing a simple device always available for operation, and avoiding certain difliculties attending" the positionin of a mirror and the maintenance of a- In the drawmgs' the preferred form the device completey,

su tially fixed position b the operator before such mirror to obtain emotion icture efiects. Another object is to provi e a device according to which a somewhat difierent interesting effect over that of the mirrortype mentioned may be had.

' 1 is a face view of Fig. 2 isa face view of the picture-containing element; Figs. 3 a'nd4are entary views of another form, corresponding to F1g's.'1 and I I 2 respectively, and'Fig. is a medial vertical atthe end'of each section the device-of 1 or Fig. 3. i. The structure shownmFig. 1 consists of onlythree parts, namely, the .mam supportthe rotatable element 11,;and the p vot means 12 shown in the form of an eyelet rivet through the members 10 and 11 and sheet forms cut operation consists of IO-isshown as havmg'at its The suprt using the discto come to stroke. These provisionsinFig.1areapa1rof cemivel 4 at the recess or; indentation'13thein P 'hqi g ons 14 formed at'the ma1 -gim 5 9 Thescprqections.

distinguish from such devices in provisions which avoid the use of a reflecting surface 'and'one of the which maybe considered as taken" clement carry r d ngthemcloselytogetherx ThepartslO and llmmyPtw ceareflat movingvthediscstepbystepbyafingerstroke.

a 13 llid f 13.? connected by an arcuate finger guide 13",

. 'thetbeingsuchastoexposesuc-" ress 13, as shown in Fig; 1;. The material at the notch'or recess 13 serves as a finger stop and-provides that the rotative movement of to aic'ertaln predetermined amount, the finger of theoperator slipping orbeing forced off of each successive projection 14 at the bottom of therecess 13. 7 1 In the main support .10, preferably at the top and opposite marginal portions of the disc 11, there is a sight-opening15. On such marginal portions of the'disc 11 a series of pictures is printed .or otherwise applied, the pictures being spaced apart equally in such a manner and to such an extent that when any one of the projections 14: is at the recess 13 and ready to be moved downward one picture of "the-series is op osit'e the sight-opening 15,

and whereb w en such projection 14 is moved the ull extent provided by the arment the next picture in the series will come before the sight opening, and so on, so that with each stroke ofthe in; whic a mirror is employed; the rotatable the pictures is mounted toat by a I wiping strokewith several I pon the edge of. the it will be given a rapid f inning motion carryingthe through a fairly num turn freely, so

presentdevice 2 V struction also inthe manner of rapidl themotio n. picture efiect would not bler'ga but merely a blur would be shown I r improvements proceed on the theory of a distinct step-by stepmovement; This isle complished 1n the device illustrated by means the finger-impelled movement to a rblow or by a 1 r of revolutions. This.

es-from that conthe disc iorrotation. If the disc 11 were rotated the-sight opening 15, The present thedisc by the finger is limited on each stroke V i r the next picture in theseries comes into view.

In to "motion picture devlces of the kind given amountand by means which prevent the disc from moving be 0nd such amount in the normal operation. the present form shown the last-mentioned means include the z pivoting means. That is to say, the pivot 12 is riveted tightly enough upon the major parts to prevent a spinning motion of'the disc, and'the connection is tight enough to provide that at the end of each finger stroke the disc will come to rest relative to the frame or support 10. Such an amount of frictional holding may be provided while still leaving the disc free enough to be moved easily.

In operation the person will hold between several fingers and his thumb of the left hand the card or support 10, as by grasping it in the lower left-hand corner. With his right fore-finger hewill then strike downward upon the projections 14 in turn, thus successively moving thedisc as mentioned. The more rapidly heoperates the disc in its stepby-step movement the more'rapid and continuous will be the apparent movement of the object or objects illustrated on the disc. By operating his finger two or three times a second the objects illustrated on the disc will give a very definite motion picture effect.

It is conducive to the best results that all of the pictures except the particular one to be viewed at each momentary exposure be concealed, so as to cause the eye to be directed definitely to the place where the pictures successively appear and also to avoid confusion. In any form 0 construction the pictures adjacent to the one exposed should be covered over.

Of course the pictures themselves must be such as to indicate successive steps or movements, a matter which is well understood in the picture-making art involved. The characters illustrated in Fig. 2, when exposed as herein indicated, show a single character in the act of tossin a ball and going through various other bo ily movements. I

Turning to Figs. 3 and 4, the construction and operation are to be considered as being in general the same as in Figs. 1 and 2. A distinction is'made in the shape of the projections 20 on the disc of Figs. 3 and 4 and in the finger-guide and finger-stop means. In this instance a single notch, indentation or recess 21 is formed'in the ed e of the card or support 22. The straight right-hand edge of the card 22 serves as the finger guide. When the finger reaches the recess 21 it is definitely stopped and the amount of rotative movement of the disc is therebylimited. The pictures are viewed through the sightopening 23 corresponding to the sightopening 15 ofFig. 1. I When the operators finger is at the bottom of its stroke in the device of either Fig.

1 or Fig. 3 the next-following projection on the disc constitutes means for stopping the disc with a picture in front of the sightopening,' for such'following projection then impingesupon the operators finger and can. rnpve no farther on that stroke. Where this feature is present the frictional resistance between the disc and the support may be very slight-only enough to hold the disc steady. Little more than that is needed in any event, but a fair amount of such frictional holding saves the disc from small unintended movements, as by finger contacts on finger movements preparatory to another stroke.

I have discovered in this connection that if one will take such a disc as is shown in Fig. 2, or in Fig. 4, and hold it at the center between a finger and thumb of the left hand so that the disc will rotate as on a pivotal mounting, and then move the disc with a step-by-step movement by strikin the successive projections with a finger of the other hand, using the projecting little finger of the left hand as a stop, certain different and interesting motion picture effects will be had. In such case the eye may select a particular position on the disc successively occupied by the figure and the figure will go through its series of movements in-the motion picture sense. At the same time adjacent figures'will be going through their movements also.

A still differenteifect can be had by thus leaving all or a considerable number of pictures exposed to the eye, as by having a different number of pictures on the disc than there are projections, say one less or one more, in which arrangement the object will not only appear to move as to its own parts,

. but also ciroumferentially, and the efiect will be that of a series of such moving objects traveling around. In Fig. t I have shown a few diagrammatic pictures of a. man runnin If the disc of Fig. 4 be applied to the hol er 22, as shown in Fig. 3, the effect will be that of a single person running and advancing, followed presently by another person running and. advancing, only one, or, according to the size of the sight opening, say two, of the figures being in view at one time. By simply holding the disc in the hand for rotation, in the manner herein above 'described and by then giving the disc the delllll cording to Fig. 4 the man would appear to be running with a eat deal of action but moving forward on y very slowly;

The use of the disc alone therefore has advantages, and, since articles of this kind are ordinarily gotten'up for sale at low prices and are suitable for use as advertising matter given away, the disc part alone has features of utility in various respects. So far as I know it is novel in the provision of projections at the margin or in means for pro-- viding'a step-by-step movement.

Motion picture effects of the character herein described are such as result from the sequential viewing of pictures arranged in a series and which successively show a given object in a slightly difi'erent position or attitude, coupled with the feature of human vision known as the retention of images by or upon the retina of the eye. Merely movingrbodily a picture of an object from one position to another does not give rise to motion picture effects of the character herein described.

I contemplate as being included in the present invention such variations, changes and departures from What is thus specifically illustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for providing motion picture effects of the character described com rising a rotatable member in the form of a at disc having finger-engaging projections on the periphery thereof, a su porting and disccovering member in the orm of a flat sheet having a sight-opening therein, said rotatable member being pivotally mounted on the supporting member and having thereon a series of successively varying pictures for motion picture effects, said pictures being arranged to register successively with said sight-opening when the disc is moved a predetermined amount, said peripheral projections extending beyond an edge of the supporting member and said edge constituting a finger guide whereby a sfinger applied to such pro ections respectively may move the rotatable member substantially such predetermined amount only.

2. In a device for providing motion picture efi'ects oi? the character described, the

combination of 1a cardboard disc having inte ra margina rojections, a su orti m e mber in the idim of a cardboa i'd shd ei substantially covering the disc, pivoting means for holding the disc frictionally upon the supporting sheet while providin for a ste -by-step rotatable movement t ereof, sai supporting member having a sight-opening therein, said disc having successively varying pictures thereon adapted successively to register with said sight-opening, said projections extending beyond a margin of the supporting member whereby a finger may be applied thereto to move the disc a predetermined amount, the edge of the supporting member constituting a guide for the finger during each movement, said pictures being so arranged that with each movement of the rotatable member the predetermined amount another picture comes opposite the sightopening. 4

3. The combination of claim 2-hereof. in which there is a stop carried by the support to limit the finger movement for moving the disc .the predetermined amount.

4. The combination of claim 2 hereof in which there is a stop carried by the support to limit the finger movement, and in which the form and arrangement of the projec tions on the disc are such that when-the operators fin er. contacts said stop such finger is contacts by the projection next following in the series. Y

i A. KING. 

